Talk:Huntsville, Alabama/GA2

GA Review

The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

---

Article (edit | visual edit | history) · Article talk (edit | history) · Watch

Reviewer: FormalDude (talk · contribs)
Nominator: MyCatIsAChonk (talk · contribs)

GA review (see here for what the criteria are, and here for what they are not)

1. It is reasonably well written.

   a. (prose, spelling, and grammar):

   The prose is clear and concise, and understandable to an appropriately broad audience. Spelling and grammar are good.

   b. (MoS for lead, layout, word choice, fiction, and lists):

   MOS compliant.

2. It is factually accurate and verifiable.

   a. (reference section):

   b. (citations to reliable sources):

   c. (OR):

   d. (copyvio and plagiarism):

3. It is broad in its coverage.

   a. (major aspects):

   b. (focused):

4. It follows the neutral point of view policy.

   Fair representation without bias:

5. It is stable.

   No edit wars, etc.:

6. It is illustrated by images and other media, where possible and appropriate.

   a. (images are tagged and non-free content have non-free use rationales):

   b. (appropriate use with suitable captions):

7. Overall:

   Pass/fail: ✓ Pass

(Criteria marked are unassessed)

Comments

Starting the review. I will make comments here and update the table above as we go. ––FormalDude (talk) 01:22, 17 May 2023 (UTC)

• The lede says twice that Huntsville is Alabama's most populous city. (First and last paragraphs)
  • Cut second instance. MyCatIsAChonk (talk) (not me) (also not me) (still no) 15:34, 20 May 2023 (UTC)
• "This area was later annexed by the city." missing a reference.
  • Cut the statement because I can't find a source to back it. MyCatIsAChonk (talk) (not me) (also not me) (still no) 15:34, 20 May 2023 (UTC)
• Seems worth mentioning that William Hooper Councill High School was the first public school for African Americans in the city.
  • Added. MyCatIsAChonk (talk) (not me) (also not me) (still no) 15:34, 20 May 2023 (UTC)
• There's little to no coverage of the desegregation of Huntsville or how the city was impacted by the civil rights movement. Martin Luther King Jr. gave a speech at Huntsville’s Oakwood University. Huntsville was the first Alabama city to integrate a public school.
  • Added a paragraph. MyCatIsAChonk (talk) (not me) (also not me) (still no) 15:34, 20 May 2023 (UTC)
• Could mention the Buffalo Soldiers history in the area. [1]
  • I don't think this is quite notable enough- there's only a few sources I can find on the subject, and it seemed the soldiers were only in Huntsville for a little bit. Huntsville isn't even mentioned on the article about them. Though, it is certainly interesting. MyCatIsAChonk (talk) (not me) (also not me) (still no) 15:34, 20 May 2023 (UTC)
• There are too many section headers dividing up the content, it clutters the article with headings and inhibits the flow of the prose.
  • Changed the headers. MyCatIsAChonk (talk) (not me) (also not me) (still no) 15:34, 20 May 2023 (UTC)
• Replace citation 316 to Britannica with a secondary source.
  • Fixed
• Remove duplicate wikilinks to North Alabama Railroad Museum, Huntsville Depot, and Operation Paperclip.
  • Fixed. MyCatIsAChonk (talk) (not me) (also not me) (still no) 15:34, 20 May 2023 (UTC)

@FormalDude: I believe I've addressed all your comments thus far. Thanks for the review, and I look forward to any further comments. MyCatIsAChonk (talk) (not me) (also not me) (still no) 15:34, 20 May 2023 (UTC)

@MyCatIsAChonk: Looks good, but I'm still not satisfied with the coverage of the civil rights era. You just added a paragraph to the Military and NASA involvement section, and it doesn't belong there. I think it should have its own section and go into further detail. Take a look at Mobile, Alabama#20th century for example. If you can flesh it out more it'll be much closer to GA status. ––FormalDude (talk) 22:12, 20 May 2023 (UTC)

@FormalDude, I added a new header and a bunch more information. Most of this information is about the early 60s because I can't find any other coverage about the movement past that- the book chapter (Fisk 2019) only talks about it in small detail, and I can't find much else online. If you think more is needed and have more sources, I'm happy to expand. MyCatIsAChonk (talk) (not me) (also not me) (still no) 00:27, 24 May 2023 (UTC)

@MyCatIsAChonk: That's much better, however, I've found a number of issues that still need to be addressed. As such I'm placing the nomination on hold. ––FormalDude (talk) 03:52, 24 May 2023 (UTC)

• The article relies heavily on primary sources and strays into potentially unnecessary detail (see summary style). Suggest removing tangents and minor details that are only covered in primary sources, and adding secondary sources where possible. Using primary sources for businesses like breweries, comedy clubs, country clubs, etc. is especially problematic.
• Some of the cited sources do not verify the article text. I could not verify the following content with the sources provided:
  • Huntsville's most popular park is Big Spring International Park
  • Huntsville's largest stadium is the Von Braun Center
  • The Three Caves is a former rock quarry
  • Huntsville's main economic influence is derived from aerospace and military technology.
  • Since Huntsville is nearly 300 miles (480 km) inland, hurricanes rarely arrive with their full force; however, many weakened tropical storms cross the area after a U.S. Gulf Coast landfall.
  • Huntsville's economy was nearly crippled and growth almost came to a standstill in the 1970s following the closure of the Apollo program
  • Five Points Historic District, consists predominantly of bungalows built around the beginning of the 20th century, by which time Huntsville was becoming a mill town.
• No mention of how the slave trade grew the early economy of Huntsville.
• In 2015, Alabama and Huntsville were not considered bicycle friendly. This is sourced to an advocacy group and should therefore have WP:INTEXT attribution.

@FormalDude: I believe I've addressed all your comments. I added tons of secondary sources (specifically under Sports, Parks, and Arts and culture) as well as cut quite a bit of content I found not notable due to lack of coverage. Regarding the statements above, I either added a source or just cut it due to, again, lack of notability/relevance. As for the slave trade, I added a bit under 'Emerging industries', but I actually had a hard time finding information about it online. I was only able to add a bit, since there weren't many sources about how the trade influenced Huntsville prior to the Civil War and emancipation. MyCatIsAChonk (talk) (not me) (also not me) (still no) 11:53, 26 May 2023 (UTC)

@MyCatIsAChonk: Can you incorporate how the cotton sale was produced by slave labor and resulted in the wealth? It looks like that's covered in both citation 25 and citation 26, but it's not mentioned in the content they're referenced for.

The only other problem I don't see fixed is "Huntsville's most popular park is Big Spring International Park" which is still not verified by the sources, and TripAdvisor is a WP:UGC. ––FormalDude (talk) 17:38, 26 May 2023 (UTC)

@FormalDude, I cut the "most popular park" claim and just left it. I also added a bit about the slave trade and cotton, thanks for finding those sources! MyCatIsAChonk (talk) (not me) (also not me) (still no) 20:57, 26 May 2023 (UTC)

The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.